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Black Ferns blown away: Four takeaways from New Zealand v Canada
By Martyn Thomas at Ashton Gate, Bristol
Canada booked their place in a second Women’s Rugby World Cup final with a scintillating 34-19 defeat of New Zealand in Bristol.
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Player of the Match Justine Pelletier got the party started at Ashton Gate with a brilliant dummy and finish, before Asia Hogan-Rochester, Florence Symonds and Sophie de Goede followed her over as Canada built a 24-7 half-time lead.
Alex Tessier extended that advantage at the start of the second half and although Liana Mikaele-Tu’u and Braxton Sorensen-McGee went over to give New Zealand hope, Canada were able to see out victory with a late De Goede penalty.
It is only the third time the Black Ferns have ever lost a World Cup match and is their first knockout defeat since the inaugural tournament in 1991.
This is what we took away from the opening semi-final.
Canada one step from history
Canada have made no secret of the fact that they travelled to England with one thing on their mind: to win the World Cup.
It was the stated aim that helped the largely amateur team raise CAN$1 million in pursuit of that goal. But even in that context, this was a statement victory.
Canada started the match as favourites, just, but the question mark that hung over them ahead of kick-off – the intangible that could not be answered – was how they would cope on this stage.
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The Black Ferns had proven time and again at World Cups that they could rise to the biggest of challenges but Canada were something of an unknown. How would they react to being expected to win in front of a 24,392 crowd largely wanting them to lose.
Within 11 minutes they had exposed those questions as bunkum. Far from being daunted by the occasion Canada steamed into their opponents and were rewarded in kind.
This is a team that can hurt you in many ways – out wide, up front, from deep – and they inflicted maximum damage on a New Zealand team not used to losing World Cup matches.
Even when they were required to dig in during the second half, as the Black Ferns found some form and space in behind, the women in white rose to the challenge.
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Canada find themselves 80 minutes from history. It will take some effort to stop them at Twickenham.
De Goede and Pelletier rise to occasion
Is there anything De Goede can’t do on a rugby pitch? On Friday night, the totemic Canada second row displayed the full array of her frightening arsenal.
The highlight of her evening at Ashton Gate came in the 35th minute as she read Pelletier’s offload perfectly to charge over from 20 yards with the New Zealand defence flat-footed.
It came at a crucial time, restoring Canada’s three-score lead and allied with the second of her three conversions, giving her side a boost at the end of a half they had dominated. Her late penalty provided vital breathing space – and time – as the Black Ferns threatened a comeback.
But her contribution cannot be measured in points alone. Whether it was making tackles, winning penalties or providing a vital clearing kick, De Goede answered every SOS sent up by her teammates in white.
She was not the only player in white to rise to the biggest occasion of their careers though, of course.
Hogan-Rochester and Alysha Corrigan fizzed on the wings, Taylor Perry and Alex Tessier pulled the strings, Karen Paquin and Emily Tuttosi were monumental up front.
But in the middle of it all, for the hour she was on the pitch, was scrum-half Pelletier, the woman who got everything started with an outrageous dummy and finish.
In that 60 minutes Pelletier made 12 carries for 69 metres, beating five defenders and setting up two tries in the process. She also put her body on the line in a collision with Sylvia Brunt.
A worthy Player of the Match.
One too many sluggish starts for Black Ferns
Slow starts have been a feature for the Black Ferns in England, most notably against South Africa in Exeter last weekend.
The Springbok Women scored first and were level at 10-10 at the break of their quarter-final at Sandy Park but New Zealand had needed time to find their groove against Spain, Japan and Ireland before that too.
Bristol ultimately proved a step too far as Canada came out fast at Ashton Gate and were able to do what the Black Ferns’ previous opponents weren’t: keep their foot on the gas.
Canada scored two tries in the opening 11 minutes and forced the back-to-back defending champions into a raft of unforced errors. The Black Ferns missed nine tackles in the opening quarter of an hour alone.
Renee Holmes was embodiment of that early malaise, kicking directly into touch to give Canada an attacking platform minutes before Pelletier opened the scoring and then getting sucked underneath Taylor Perry’s floated pass as Hogan-Rochester sped over for the second try.
But the full-back was far from alone. Whenever those in black threatened to gain a foothold in the game, they invariably backed up a moment of promise with a mistake.
When quarter-final heroine Kaipo Olsen-Baker stole a 14th-minute intercept, Alana Bremner knocked on. 17 minutes later it was Braxton Sorensen-McGee’s turn to shovel the ball forward following a break from the No.8.
By the time Aimee Barrett-Theron blew her whistle to bring a frantic half to a close, the Black Ferns had conceded five penalties to Canada’s none and completed 102 tackles to their opponents’ 62.
Demant tries to kickstart New Zealand
Whatever their struggles on the pitch, and there were many on Friday night, there is still an aura about the team in black.
There was a moment in the second half that underlined that fact. As New Zealand threatened the most unlikely of comebacks, the Ashton Gate roof was almost lifted by a wall of noise that greeted a Stacey Waaka inspired counter-attack.
It was the kind of spark that can act as a momentum-changer and even though Canada held a 31-14 lead at the time, were the Black Ferns to get a try at that time then you never know what can happen.
No player did more in that period of play than co-captain Ruahei Demant to try and haul her side back into the contest.
Playing in her 50th Test, the fly-half suddenly appeared to be playing with more time and was able to expose space behind the Canadian defensive line like few teams have managed.
One intelligent kick ultimately contributed to the Mikaele-Tu’u try, while her crossfield nudge directly led to Braxton Sorensen-McGee dotting down and briefly giving the Black Ferns hope. It wasn’t to be anywhere near enough, though.
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